A child loses their home every 8 minutes despite parents 'doing everything they're supposed to'

Penny Walster, a hub manager at Shelter, says many families and individuals are caught in a 'perfect storm' of homelessness, which has seen people who work in schools and hospitals turn to the charity for help

A staggering 135,000 children in Britain are currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation.

One child loses their home every eight minutes - the equivalent of 183 every day. This is the highest figure the nation has seen in 12 years.

Homelessness charity Shelter described it as a 'sleeping' crisis, one that has been slowly snowballing for generations, as it works to support thousands of homeless individuals and families who have found themselves caught in the eye of a 'perfect storm'.

In a time when the political parties set out their key policies ahead of the general election , Shelter is calling on the government put into power on December 12 to do more to tackle a crisis which simply 'shouldn't be happening'.

Shelter provides expert advice and support to those in need, offering face-to-face services, a national helpline, online advice and legal support.

It has local services in 14 locations including Bristol, where Penny Walster has worked as hub manager for four years, witnessing the fight on the front line as its services work 'full pelt' to deal with the surge in demand.

"Some families are really struggling even though they are doing everything they are supposed to be doing," she said. "We shouldn’t have 183 children being made homeless every day.

"Across all of our hubs in the UK we are picking up the pieces for some of the 320,000 people who are homeless right now.

"Here in Bristol there’s spiralling rents, a faulty benefits system which doesn’t work at all and a historic lack of social housing.

"Putting all three together creates this perfect storm.

"We are seeing people that are working zero hour contracts. We see people in reasonably well paid jobs who work in schools and hospitals who need our help."

Penny explained that many of those who come to Shelter for assistance find themselves in a vicious cycle, being placed in temporary accommodations such as a bed and breakfast or a hostel because there is a lack of social housing.

The same lack of social housing then leaves them trapped with nowhere to go, sometimes forcing families with young children to live in a B&B for a year - which Shelter said is widely considered the worst type of accommodation.

Here they are often forced to share one room, with little space to cook, play or eat their meals.

It can also be located miles away from schools and Penny said the long-term effects of homelessness on children can often be overlooked, with education and personal development suffering, which can both have ramifications for them later in life.

As part of its shocking ' Generation Homeless ' report which was released this week, Shelter highlighted the story of 10-year-old Will, who shares a single room with his parents and younger brother in an emergency B&B in Ilford.

He described the experience as 'worse than being in a real-life horror film', never being able to find quiet to read his book and rarely having the opportunity for play.

"Sometimes me and my little brother Harry, we fight for the one chair, because we both want to sit at the table, and sometimes he wins and sometimes I win," he said.

"I find it really hard to do my homework as I get distracted by my little brother and I don’t have another room to work in peace.

"We moved here in September, and they said we were going to stay for six weeks. Then they told us we were going to stay for two more, then they told us it will be another week, then another one." 

It's a similar story for many in other parts of the country, with Penny saying she had seen an increase in the number of families becoming homeless and not being able to afford alternative accommodation in Bristol.

"It can be difficult for a family who have lived in an area for two or three years to suddenly need to find somewhere new to live when they have settled in an area," she said.

“We work really hard with the families to advise them on their rights and help them look for permanent accommodation."

Shelter is asking the government to address three main issues.

The first is committing to building more social housing, setting a target of 90,000 a year.

The second is to scrap 'no fault evictions', where people can be removed from private renting properties with two months notice at no fault of their own. It can result in renters struggling to find or afford alternative housing as costs soar and many rents requiring huge expenditure at the start to cover fees such as deposits.

The third is to ensure that housing benefits cover rental costs.

Penny, who has been working to support those affected by homelessness for 16 years, says building more social housing is the long term solution to reducing numbers.

The goal is to find people a permanent home and she explained that when that is achieved, Shelter has a partnership with B&Q to help individuals and families turn a space into a home of their own.

B&Q assist with painting and decorating, something Penny says might sound insignificant but makes a 'big difference' in helping those who have experienced homelessness to overcome the trauma.

Shelter is also fighting against the 'disgusting discrimination' of letting agents who refuse to accept prospective tenants on housing benefits, and hope to see the practise banned altogether.

“Everyone here has been working full pelt to do whatever we can to help," said Penny.

"It’s been a bit of a sleeping crisis and we’ve been making a lot of noise about it. Being homeless is a traumatic experience for people."

The charity is heavily reliant on donations and grants to fund its work. You can donate to Shelter's appeal aiming to give everyone a home this Christmas by clicking here .